With great produce, entertaining guests and fascinating locations, Season 1 celebrates Japanese cuisine and inspires viewers with amazing, simple to make dishes like only a local could.
Episode 1 - Fish Market (Tokyo)
Sachie goes to the largest fish market in the world – Tsukiji Market in Tokyo – where more than two hundred different types of fish are sold. The high point is the famous tuna auction where tuna from all over the world are sold for sashimi. Back in her kitchen Sachie prepares tuna tataki, sugar and spice salmon and stuffed squid.
Episode 2 - Street Food (Osaka)
The variety of food sold from roadside stalls is amazing in Japan and nowhere is it more evident than Osaka, the city with the food motto “eat till you drop”. From octopus balls to dumplings to the local specialty - a kind of thick fritter called okonomiyaki - Sachie does eat till she drops. And then back in her kitchen she shows you how to make some of these special streetfood dishes: sweet buns; okonomiyaki; and dumplings.
Episode 3 - Noodles (Tokyo)
Noodles are one of Japan’s most popular meals, so popular that the people voted instant noodles their most important invention of the 20th century. Sachie visits a living museum dedicated to ramen noodles and gets to see the master noodle chefs at work – then back in her kitchen she makes a soy based soup using spaghetti instead of noodles and a miso based noodle soup.
Episode 4 - Rice (Toyama > California)
Sachie goes on an international rice journey from planting seedlings in a paddy field in Japan to harvesting full grown rice stalks in Northern California and then following the rice as it’s processed in a factory. Continuing the rice theme Sachie visits a famous Los Angles sushi restaurant favoured by stars like George Clooney. Back in her kitchen Sachie shows us how to make some simple but wonderful sushi dishes: inari sushi; sushi roll; and chirashi sushi.
Episode 5 - Fast Food, Fast Trains (Tokyo)
Japanese people are constantly on the move and to match this hectic lifestyle they’ve refined some special kinds of fast food; from thirty second udon noodles to the elegant bento boxes containing up to fifty different Japanese delicacies. Sachie sees how these fast foods are made, then back in her kitchen she shows us how to make fast foods perfect for lunches and snacks: from home made udon noodles to renkon chips and university sweet potato.
Episode 6 - Family BBQ (Toyama)
Sachie and her family go foraging in the hills for bamboo shoots and other special vegetables for a Japanese style barbecue. We see how they prepare these dishes according to old family recipes. Then back in her kitchen Sachie shows us some three simple barbecue dishes: seasonal vegetables and sesame dressing; beef and soy vege wraps; and yakitori skewers.
Episode 7 - Soy (Chiba)
Soy sauce is one of the main condiments in Japanese cooking so Sachie journeys to Chiba, the home of Yamasa Soy Sauce to see how it’s made. Yamasa has been making soy sauce for more than 350 years but they’ve got a new concoction which is totally 21st century - soy icecream. A slight detour from the Yamasa factory, Sachie meets two ladies who make soy rice crackers. Then it’s back to Sachie’s kitchen for three soy inspired recipes: seafood hot pot; honey soy spare ribs with prawn crackers; and soy caramel icecream with walnut.
Episode 8 - Fine Dining (Kyoto)
Sachie visits Kyoto - from geishas to temples to fine crafts it’s the centre of Japanese culture, and its food is no exception. First stop is the famed Nishiki vegetable market in search of the amazing array of vegetable pickles on offer. Then it’s on to a local 3 Michelin star fine dining restaurant steeped in history: it’s been there for more than three hundred years old and the master chef is the fourteenth generation of his family to run the kitchen. The food is all about attention to detail – like a pickled nut marinated for more than seventeen years. Then it’s back to Sachie’s Kitchen to make: Chinese cabbage pickle with eggplant and conjee; fillet steak with miso butter and edamame puree; and pumpkin and chestnut tarts.
Episode 9 - Salmon (NZ)
Salmon is rapidly becoming one of the staple fish in the Japanese diet and New Zealand King salmon is one of the most prized varieties. To find out what makes New Zealand salmon so special Sachie journeys to a salmon hatchery and then to a salmon farm in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. While there she samples a sashimi salmon laced with beetroot and alcohol. Then Sachie shows how to make this delightfully simple dish, along with a salmon salad and a local salmon specialty dish cooked by a local chef.
Episode 10 - Miso (Nagano)
Miso paste dates back more than a thousand years and has become a key ingredient in Japanese cuisine. Sachie travels to Nagano, the home of Marukome (the world’s leading manufacturer of miso) where she gets to see how it’s made and then to a place in the hills where the miso is left to ferment and mature. Back in her kitchen Sachie makes three dishes with miso paste as a base: miso soup and miso grilled eggplant; pork katsu with miso sauce; and miso walnut brownie.
Episode 11 - Old Traditions (Osaka/Toyama/Kyoto)
While Japan is a truly modern country it is also rich in history and tradition. In this episode Sachie meets some Japanese artisans carrying on very old traditions closely tied to Japan’s food culture: a knife maker whose company has made fine knives for more than three hundred years; a saké maker whose samurai ancestor started producing saké in 1628 ; and a Kyoto woman running a hundred year old tea house. Then Sachie takes us back to her kitchen where she makes clams with saké and green tea cheese cake.
In Season 2 (8 x half hours/ coming Q1 2024), Sachie travels the breadth of New Zealand, exploring local food scenes that showcase exciting food producers, innovative locally made and sourced ingredients, food entrepreneurs, local markets and regional experiences. She meets talented chefs, cooks, foodies and enjoys entertaining characters as she travels the stunning landscapes and vistas of New Zealand.
Viewers will be inspired at home as Sachie brings the country's best produce, ingredients and exciting ideas back to her own kitchen in every episode. Inspired by her travels and the people she meets, Sachie shares her easy-to-make, accessible and delicious Pan Asian inspired creations!